Citadel Academy: Year One
by Project Phoenix Agent 003
Summary: The Citadel Academy is arguably the most prestigous academic institution in the galaxy, though its discipline principles are surprisingly lax. As a fresh batch of new students arrive, things quickly begin to get much, much more interesting.High School AU
1. Chapter 1

John Shepard squeezed the hand of his twin sister, Jane, as they stared at the waiting school bus picking up the students of the prestigious Citadel Academy. Other students were already boarding, but the Shepard twins remained fixed to the spot. Despite years of having been the more aggressive and protective of the two, John knew HE was far more frightened of the bus than his sister was.

John was a few inches taller than his sister, with extremely short cropped auburn hair and dark green eyes. His eyes were more sunken than his sisters, and the bridge of his nose was flatter. He had a small scar going up from his forehead from an accident with his father's omni-tool as a kid.

Jane by contrast had green eyes and red hair, though she shared her brother's fair skin, angular jaw, and rounded chin. A small scar showed from underneath her left eyebrow, the result of a very bad day back in the beginning of eighth grade.

Jane looked to her brother, her elder by a mere two minutes. She was a little nervous for her first day of high school (and not just any high school, but one of the most esteemed and exclusive high schools in the galaxy.), but John was clearly terrified.

They couldn't just stand around at the bus stop forever though, and John clearly wasn't going to snap out of it anytime soon. so Jane took it upon herself to get them moving.

"Ready?" she asked him.

He let out a shaky breath she realized he must have been holding. Still uncertain, he nodded.

"Let's do this," he said, his old confidence returning.

She gave his hand one more reassuring squeeze, and then released her grip. She adjusted her N7 hoodie their father had bought her, John pulled his jacket tight, and the two boarded the bus.

The bus was crowded, full of kids of numerous different ages and species. Because they'd been late to board, there were no seats left that would allow the twins to sit together. They exchanged a glance.

Since birth, the twins had done everything together. They slept in the same room, they'd gone to the same schools, had all the same friends, shared the same hobbies. They were inseparable; the constant in each other lives with their parents careers requiring frequent relocation.

"It'll be fine," Jane said, as much to herself as her brother. He nodded, and the twins separated.

Jane walked down the aisle, looking for an open seat. She found a turian boy sitting alone staring out the window, dressed in blue and black and fiddling with some kind of device in his taloned hands.

"Can I sit here?" she asked him, trying to suppress her nervousness.

The turian barely glanced in her direction.

"Hn?" he mumbled, extremely distracted. "Yeah. Sure."

He scooted to the side slightly to make room for her, and then turned his attention to the small device in his hand.

Jane sat, carefully not to accidentally bump the turian. She sat, and what felt to her like an awkward silence settled in between her and her seat neighbor as the bus began moving. She tried to distract herself, hoping not to stare. But eventually, she gave in.

She'd never seen a turian up close before, and now here one was sitting next to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked him over from fringe to talon to toe. She remembered when she'd first seen a turian in a vid, she'd been terrified, thought they looked like monsters. Long since passed those adolescent fears, she found them actually quite cool to look at. The fringe, the talons, the metallic plates and sharp angled mandibles all made them look fierce, predatory, and more than a little badass.

Her eyes fell on the small device the turian was fiddling with.

"Watch'ya got there?" she asked him, trying to start conversation.

He looked up, noticing her for the first time. He gave her a sideways look and his mandibles clicked. Jane saw him look her over, much the same way she had him. She had no idea how to read turian facial expression (could they even make facial expressions?), but he looked unimpressed.

"It's a targeting visor," he explained. "My father gave it to me, since I officially join the service next year."

She nodded, and the silence returned. But Jane was not one to give up easily. Even as the turian dismissed the conversation as over and returned to his work, she persisted.

"So what are you doing with it?" she asked him.

The turian boy let out an exasperated sigh. His frustration with his visor pulled him back in.

"The damn thing's not working right," he said. "I think it's miscalibrated or something. I can't fix it."

Now Jane's curiosity and competitive nature got the better of her. She reached over to grab the visor from his hand, and he reflexive recoiled at the slightest touch. She met his eyes, smiling.

"Relax," she said, her hand slowly gripping the deactivated visor. "I won't break it."

Reluctantly, the turian released his grip on the visor, giving the human girl free reign with his visor. Jane held it up, examining it. She looked to device, the owner, and back again. She fiddled with the controls on it, her tongue poking out slightly as she grew focused.

Finally, the visor blipped to life, the digital lens glowing blue. Jane gave a satisfied smirk and the turian's eyes widened. Jane raised the visor up, placing it on the turian's face and adjusting it until it was secure. Her fingers brushed the fringe of his head and the plates of his face as she slowly pulled her hand away. She was only slow in pulling away in case the visor fell off and she had to catch it, but something about the click of the turian's mandibles made Jane suspect he had gotten a different impression.

"How's that?" she asked him.

He stared into space for a few brief moments, mouth slightly agape. Finally, he cleared his throat, producing a deep clanging effect in doing so, and spoke.

"It... it's perfect!" he said, shocked. "How did you do that?"

Jane shrugged. "I'm pretty good with tech."

The turian nodded, and sat back in the seat.

"Thanks," he said. "I'm Garrus, by the way. Garrus Vakarian."

Jane gave a tentative smile. "Jane Shepard."

Kaidan Alenko was anxious to get off the bus. The guy sitting next to him made him feel a little uneasy, what with the black and red N7 jacket, the extremely short cropped hair, and that subtle fire in his eyes that said he was dangerous.

Neither of them said a word to each other the entire bus ride, and Kaidan was just fine with that. They finally reached Citadel Academy, and the bus came to a halt. The students flowed out, and Kaidan was glad to lose his seat mate in the ensuing crowd.

He was still entering the school, walking and minding his own business. And then he heard it.

"Hey! Cut it out!"

Kaidan instinctively turned to see what was going on. As other students milled past into the school, a boy leaning on one crutch groped for his other crutch, which was held just out of reach by a young but still beefy krogan with still forming grey forehead plates. The krogan was laughing, tauntingly holding the crutch high and out of reach.

Kaidan was suddenly furious, all thoughts of getting to class abandoned. If there was one thing Alenko hated, it was bullies. He stormed right up to the krogan, fuming.

"Hey!" Kaidan said, getting the krogan's attention. The victimized boy stopped his fruitless attempts to regain his second crutch, and the adolescent krogan turned to face Kaidan, a devilish grin slowly spreading across his wide face. Kaidan felt some of his courage disappear as his eyes saw the equivalent of biceps which were about as big around as his head.

Steeling himself, Kaidan confronted him. "Leave him alone."

The kid who'd had his crutch stolen stared with eyes wide and mouth agape as the krogan and Kaidan stared each other down.

"What are you going to do if I don't," the krogan asked, "_Human_?" The krogan added the word "human" on, saying it as if it were an insult.

When Kaidan didn't immediately respond, the krogan shoved him back and hurled the crutch back at his original victim. It struck the boy in the chest, knocking him off balance and eventually crashing to the floor.

"Ow…" he groaned.

The krogan laughed at the two sprawled humans, clearly enjoying the sight of their misery. He made a show of pretending to dust off the white armor he wore, looking at the humans with contempt.

"You humans are all alike," he said smiling. "Talk big, but when push comes to shove, you go soft."

"Hey!" a new voice interrupted.

The krogan turned, and Kaidan looked up to see the boy who'd sat next to him during the bus ride. The boy with the N7 jacket fearlessly approached the krogan, fists clenched. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"Out of my face," the krogan retorted, shoving the boy hard. Kaidan actually heard the impact, and cringed as the boy staggered back. Surprisingly though, the boy did not fall, and glared at the krogan who was walking away.

"Hey!" the boy repeated, stalking toward the krogan. The krogan turned around, surprised the human had come back for more. "You forgot something!"

And then Kaidan watched the boy headbutt the krogan on the still forming head plates, actually staggering the behemoth. He followed by delivered a right hook that made the krogan stumble backward, and a final kick which knocked the massive alien juvenile onto his back.

"Next time," the boy said, seething, "Pick on someone your own size."

And then the boy stalked off, headed to class, his movements angry and radiating a challenge that no one dare take.

The krogan got up to his feet, dusted himself off for real this time, and stomped off, muttering to himself about "stupid, smelly primates,".

Kaidan got up, and assisted the disabled boy in doing so as well.

The boy adjusted himself on his crutches. "That jerk…" he muttered. "Why would they even let krogan into this school?"

"They're probably trying not to be racist," Kaidan figured.

"Yeah well if I see a vorcha trying to steal my lunch, I am out," the kid complained. "Stupid krogan…"

"You know, not all krogan are bad," Kaidan said. "Some of them are even kind of…civilized."

"Yeah," the boy scoffed sarcastically. "And sometimes starhips can talk. Thanks for everything man, see you around."

The boy hobbled off on his crutches. Before he could go completely out of earshot, Kaidan called out. "It's Kaidan, by the way."

The boy stopped, looked back over his shoulder. "Jeff Moreau," he introduced, and then resumed hobbling away. As he did, he added over his shoulder, "Most people call me Joker!"

Kaidan watched the boy disappear into the crowd. "Joker, huh?" He shrugged, and followed the flow of students into the school.

"I don't want to," Ashley repeated as her mother drove her to school.

"Ashley…" the elder Williams woman began.

"I'm serious, I don't want to!" she repeated. "Why did we have to move to the Citadel? Why couldn't I have just stay back home, lived with Sam and her parents? You know, so I could go to high school with my _friends_."

Her mother shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry, Ashley. You'll just have to try and make new friends."

Ashley crossed her arms and glared out the window. "Yeah, sure. School full of aliens, I'll make tons of friends," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Probably be kissing turians by the end of the month."

"Quit being so dramatic," her mother chided. "We'll visit Earth over the summer, you can go on back during every break. Stay in touch with your friends, try to make new ones. It'll be fine."

"I should just run off with the first guy who can get me back to Earth," Ashley said, ignoring her mother's advice.

"And you know what your father would say about _that_," her mother reminded.

Ashley did her best impression of her father's voice, though it wasn't a very good one. "'Go on ahead, I'll pack your damn bags for you!'."

Ashley sighed, just the memory of her father's words curbing her anger. "I miss home, Mom," she said, in a much more gentle voice this time.

Her mother sighed as well as she pulled up to Citadel Academy. "This is home now Ashley. This is home."

Ashley nodded sullenly, and slid out of the skycar. She walked towards the entrance to the school as her mother said a quick goodbye and flew off. Ashley stopped and turned to watch the car go, and then she was alone. Steeling herself for what she figured was going to be the worst day of her life, she entered the building.

_**Two thousand words and yet another idea has been born. Sorry. After a (brain meltingly long) Mass Effect marathon (both gaming and fanfic reading) I HAD to write something for this fandom. And well…this idea came to me.**_

_**To any fans of my other stories, I am not abandoning them (Well, at least not Jacob Jackson or Miguel O'Hara). Just warming up the old keyboard and getting back into the swing of things. I'm going to have a very writing filled summer.**_

_**Anyway, onto this story itself. I couldn't decide between male shepard and femshep, so I went with both. It works. Garrus, Ashley, Kaidan, and Joker have all been introduced, hopefully in a satisfactory way.**_

_**There were subtle references to the game sprinkled throughout, in hopes they would be appreciated. For now this storyline will stick to more basic high school ordeals, though later on I may transition into a more action storyline. Who knows. Depends on how long I can keep this baby afloat.**_

_**At any rate…how'd I do?**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Okay. Intro worked out. And now the plot begins. I half feel as though I should put down a list of every character and their role in the school, but then, EVERY high school AU does that. Much better instead for you to figure everything out as I go along. **_

Following a brief assembly of all of the year one students, in which Principal Udina had welcomed everyone with standard pleasantries accompanying his speech, everyone's schedule was uploaded to their omni-tools, and they were unceremoniously sent off to their classes.

Jane and John exchanged a glance at each other's schedules. Aside from sharing Galactic History as their first class however, the twins were slightly dismayed to see they shared no classes together.

Although initially showing a look of worry, John had flashed a confident grin. "Guess we can't stick together _all _the time anymore, huh?" he said lightheartedly. "We'll be fine."

"Yeah," Jane agreed. "Now c'mon, we still have one class together and I don't intend to be late for it on the first day."

John chuckled and followed her through the halls. "Yes, Mom."

"Alright, take your goddamn seats, I'm running a class here, not a hormone parade," the instructor said as the class officially began, his tone dripping with annoyance. "Let's go, I don't have all day."

The students took their seats. Jane sat down to the far left next to a young asari girl dressed in a white and blue outfit, and John took a seat behind his sister. The class was filled with a mix of several different species, from humans to asari and even a volus sitting in the back corner, not at all comfortable in his seat.

Once everyone was seated, the instructor saw fit to get things under way. The man was tall and muscular, dressed in a lazily buttoned dark yellow shirt and a pair of worn black pants. However, the most obvious feature about his appearance was the severe discoloration and distortion of his right eye and the surrounding flesh, which didn't look like it belonged with the rest of the man's face. His hair was thinning with age and wrinkles only furthered the safe assumption that this instructor was very old.

"Good to see you all know how to follow basic instructions," the instructor scoffed. "The name is Zaeed Masani, I don't care if you use the first, the last, or thrown goddamn 'Mr.' in front of it. What all of _your _names are, I'd prefer not to know, but that would end up being harder for me in the long run."

And grumpy. The negative disposition of this man was tangible.

"The Citadel Academy is the damn finest galacticly recognized three-year academy in the entire Central School System. That means if you don't spend the next three years catching up on your goddamn beauty sleep in class, you will graduate with a _universal _diploma. It's a high school degree in the Alliance, a certificate of higher learning in the Turian Hierarchy, a college entrance license in the Salarian, and so on and so forth."

Jane nodded, though this was no new information. It had all been explained to her, first by her parents, then by Principal Udina, and now Zaeed. Behind her, John sat back in his chair, arms folded and a bored expression on his face even as he kept his eyes on the teacher.

"I will be your Galactic History teacher for the next hundred and eighty school days. Don't waste my time, and I won't waste yours," Zaeed wrapped up.

Some students nodded, some just stared off into space, some were already checking the time on their omni-tools.

Zaeed gave a gruff noise of mild disproval and activated his own omni-tool. A moment later, holographic projectors behind him activated and a map of the galaxy shimmered across the board.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's get to work," Zaeed said. "Who here knows _why _it's important to know about galactic history?"

Quiet settled in the class, and Jane found herself looking around to see if anyone would dare answer. Apparently, no one had any intention to. Not a hand went up, not a voice spoke up.

"It's important, because there is goddamn freighter load of idiocy going on in the galaxy right now, and the reason for most of it is all found in history books," Zaeed answered with an annoyed voice when no one spoke up. "It's _important_, so that next time around, if any of you happen to find yourselves in an important position thirty years from now, you don't make the same mistakes as any _previous _ignorant jackasses."

Zaeed used his omni-tool, and the galaxy map was replaced by a picture of several screaming krogan standing proudly atop a pile of bodies of numerous species.

"For example," Zaeed spat, "how many goddamn turians would have been able to keep their heads, if they'd bothered to know more about the krogan _before _they recruited them to fight the Rachni?"

That seemed to get his point across, and Zaeed gave a grunt of discontent as he examined his students reactions. The image of the krogan was taken down.

"I rest my case. Now, who here can tell me what a 'Prothean' is?"

John cocked an eyebrow. He could only vaguely recall something about Mars in relation to the word Prothean. Jane tried to think for a moment, knowing she'd heard the word before.

"Where have I…" she muttered to herself.

The asari next to her spoke up. "The Protheans were an advanced race that existed in the galaxy before they disappeared without a trace fifty-thousand years ago. They were the ones who built the Mass Relays, and even the Citadel. Prothean artifacts are considered wells of information with vast potential to advance technology and society."

All eyes turned towards the asari girl, who suddenly grew embarrassed from all the attention. "I…I enjoyed researching them…there's still so much we don't know…"

Zaeed, for the first time today, actually looked impressed. "So I see, Miss…"

"Liara T'Soni, sir," Liara introduced.

Zaeed nodded. "Pleasure to have someone in my class who can think farther back than the mid twenty-second century."

Liara gave only a shy smile in response.

"Now, the Protheans…"

* * *

Kaidan entered his first class, Engineering 101, and was surprised to see none other than Joker already sitting in a seat towards the back.

"Joker?" he said.

The crippled teen turned in his seat. "Kaidan? What are you doing here?"

"I have this class," Kaidan explained, sitting next to him. "Small world, I guess."

Joker gave a smile and shook his head. "Yeah. Small or not, you try walking around it on crutches."

"Noted," Kaidan said.

The instructor of the class, one Engineer Adams, did his best to get everyone under control and start the class. "Alright, calm down everyone…"

After introductions were done and a class syllabus was uploaded to everyone's omni-tools, the class got underway. However, Kaidan very quickly caught on that the days lesson was nothing that he didn't already know, and from the way Joker wasn't paying attention, it was safe to assume he felt the same way.

"So, you want to be an engineer?" Kaidan asked, passing the time as the lesson droned on.

"Pilot actually," Joker explained, his face noticeably beaming with pride. "I'm attending flight school part time, and I figured a pilot isn't much if he doesn't know how his ship is put together."

"Piloting a ship?" Kaidan said with interest. "Thinking of joining the Alliance?"

"Yeah actually," Joker said. "And since I don't think they need any marines on crutches I figured hey, I can fly a skycar pretty well, how much harder can ship be? What about you? Thinking of joining the 'Human Systems Alliance'?"

"I don't see why not," Kaidan said. "I hear they can always use biotics."

"You're a biotic?" Joker asked.

Kaidan looked around to make sure he wouldn't distract anyone, then very carefully concentrated enough to let the blue glow of biotics crackle across his fingers.

"Yikes," Joker said, retreating slightly into his seat.

"What?" Kaidan asked, bringing his biotics back under control.

"Oh nothing," Joker said, looking away from the hand that had only moments earlier been alive with energy. "It's just, you know, kinda nerve-wracking sitting next to a guy who can break every bone in my body with a sneeze."

"I'm not that strong," Kaidan assured.

"Yeah well, neither are my bones," Joker said, gesturing to his crutches. "Vrolik Syndrome."

"Oh," Kaidan said. "I'm…sorry."

"Hey, whatever," Joker said, dismissing the subject. "Luck of the draw, you know? Some guys get biotics, some guys get brittle bone disease."

"Right," Kaidan said, returning his attention to the lesson.

"—the application of said effect has been used in a variety of ways…"

Ashley stood with her fellow students in her first period self-defense class. Her getting this class _had _to be her father's doing. There was no way Mom would have signed her up for a class like this, especially one taught by a lumbering krogan in red armor.

"Welcome to Self Defense." Coach Wrex introduced as he slowly paced back and forth in front of them. "The galaxy is a dangerous place, and I can guarantee all of you will end up in a fight at some point in your life. Whether or not you live to tell about it, depends on if your definition of self-defense is fighting back, or calling for help."

"It's called _self _defense for a reason," Wrex continued. "The moment your rely on someone or something else to protect you, you seal your fate. You want to survive, you have to depend on yourself, your skills, and anything you can use. Tomorrow, we officially start weaponless defense training. Today, I want to see what all of you are made of."

Coach Wrex pointed to a dark skinned boy in a grey shirt and black shorts. "You, come up here," he ordered. While the boy stepped forward, Wrex scanned the group of students for a second victim. His sights eventually fell squarely on Ashley. "And you. Let's go."

Jacob Taylor stood in front of the class along with the other girl Coach Wrex had called up. She was a little shorter than Jacob, with brown hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Alright," Wrex said. "Do either of you two have any previous training in hand to hand combat?"

Both students responded with the rough equivalent of a "no", and Wrex gave a dry laugh. He shook his head, sporting a wide krogan grin. He was standing closer to Jacob, and gave the human boy a forceful smack on his shoulder.

"Well then, this should be even more fun to watch," Wrex said.

"Sir, what exactly are we doing?" Ashley asked.

Wrex laughed again. "Sparring of course. What did you think?"

"What?" Jacob interrupted. "But…I can't hit a girl!"

"Pussy!" someone in the class yelled.

"Violence is blind to gender, human," Wrex warned him. "Now, you two ready?"

"I'm not okay with this!" Jacob protested.

Ashley on the other hand, was already stretching her shoulders in preparation. "Rules?"

"If it were up to me, there would be none," Wrex said. "But, the janitors are still on me about keeping blood off of the floor. At any rate, we still have the rest of the year to get through. Try not to kill him."

Wrex turned to Jacob. "Quit whining. Fight."

Jacob sighed and turned to Ashley, who already had her fists raised. Reluctantly, he balled his fists and took a loose fighting stance. Immediately, Ashley punched him in the face and setn him staggering backward, though it was more out of shock.

"Sorry," Ashley said with a smile. "That hurt?"

Jacob rubbed the cheek that had taken the blow. He raised his fists again, this time taking a more serious stance. The next time Ashley threw a punch, Jacob blocked.

"Hit her already!" someone yelled.

Jacob silently asked his mother to forgive him, and threw a punch. Ashley though, dodged it, and countered with a series of blows to Jacob's side, chest, and head until finally she punched him in the gut and he dropped to his knees.

Wrex gave an impressed chuckle as Ashley stood proudly over her beaten opponent.

"My dad's Alliance," Ashley explained with a smile. "He wanted boys."

Wrex gave a thrilled laugh. "I like you human," he complimented. "What's your name?"

"Ashley Williams, sir," Ashley laugh.

* * *

Towards the end of the class, John had given up trying to take notes and instead simply set his omni-tool to record audio. Jane however, was able to keep up, using her omni-tool to jot down the important points in everything Zaeed said, and leave out all of the rambling.

"—and have since disappeared without a trace," Zaeed wrapped up. No sooner had he finished the sentence than the end of class bell went off. Immediately, students began to get up and leave.

"Review your holo books if you have any questions, this will be tested on!"

The Shepard twins met in the hallway, both of them already with omni-tools out as they checked their schedules.

"You first," John prompted.

"Galactic Standard Mathematics," she said, reading off her next class. She would have read them all, but that would mean telling John what two classes she had after lunch; Sex Ed…and Cooking. Secrets could rarely kept between twins, and John knew better than anyone that Jane _hated _cooking. For good reasons. "You?"

"General Science," John read. "Taught by…Professor Solus? What kind of name is Solus?"

Jane shrugged. "Guess you'll just have to ask him."

"Guess so," John agreed.

It was only then that the twins realized they'd both froze up again, not wanting to separate. Everyone around them was walking to their respective classes, but the twins were standing in the hall without moving an inch. "Well…," Jane said, trying to be mature enough to handle high school without her sibling.

"Good luck, Little Sis," John interrupted.

"Try not to punch everyone in the face," Jane joked.

And the two separated to head to their respective classes. However, once they were both out of each other's earshot and line of sight, a thought occurred to Jane.

"Little?" she muttered. "I keep telling him we're twins…"

_**And now first period is out of the way. And yet, still so many characters left to introduce. Damn you Bioware, and your massive cast expansion in ME2. …I take it back, love the ME2 crew. Though their numbers make my job a tad bit harder. Ah well.**_

_**Any characters you'd like to see directly before I move along with the story over all?**_


End file.
